Slow Sunday!
No response from gentleman.
Although I have 41 years of high end audio experience, I am newbie to headphone.
No response from gentleman.
Although I have 41 years of high end audio experience, I am newbie to headphone.
Best Headphone under 1k$?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K2LHB1J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I had enjoyed using SoundMAGIC E11C while out of town for 3 weeks on May.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077XDWT7X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But I also got HIFIMAN SUNDARA from Amazon 10 days ago to compare it with SoundMAGIC E11C .
Although I will keep SoundMAGIC E11C for travel, I enjoy the sound from HIFIMAN SUNDARA much better.
It sound open and balanced.
I use Chord Dave to drive it.
Now my question is whether there is any headphone under 1k$ which will sound significantly better than HIFIMAN SUNDARA.
I wish to get transparent and open sound out of it with just enough tight bass.
Of course, if it provides wide and deep soundstage, it will be better.
I do not wish to get bright sound.
Can anyone recommend best headphone under 1K$?
thanks in advance
Thomas
I had enjoyed using SoundMAGIC E11C while out of town for 3 weeks on May.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077XDWT7X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But I also got HIFIMAN SUNDARA from Amazon 10 days ago to compare it with SoundMAGIC E11C .
Although I will keep SoundMAGIC E11C for travel, I enjoy the sound from HIFIMAN SUNDARA much better.
It sound open and balanced.
I use Chord Dave to drive it.
Now my question is whether there is any headphone under 1k$ which will sound significantly better than HIFIMAN SUNDARA.
I wish to get transparent and open sound out of it with just enough tight bass.
Of course, if it provides wide and deep soundstage, it will be better.
I do not wish to get bright sound.
Can anyone recommend best headphone under 1K$?
thanks in advance
Thomas
Showing 20 responses by shkong78
After reading rave review on HIFIMAN RE800 Silver with good price, I placed an order and will compare it with Sundara. |
I have a decent laptop. Dell Inspiron i7559-7512GRY 15.6 Inch UHD Touchscreen Laptop It is interesting to compare the sound of Hifiman Sundara with Dell and Galaxy Note 4 through same source of Amazon Music and Youtube. I played Hotel California(Eagles, Amazon) and Scottish Fantasy played by Joomi Kang(Youtube). It sounds slightly more focused with Galaxy than Dell. On the other hand, it sounds more relaxed with Dell than Galaxy. Thus it is almost tie between them. |
I am playing Hotel California(Eagles) and Play the music of Simon & Garfunkel (Royal Symphony Orchestra) through Amazon Music using my Galaxy Note 4. |
I had got Grado extension cable from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Grado-Prestige-Headphone-Extension-Cable/dp/B00WC4B4JI/?tag=mfconvert-20 Connected to Dave with the Grado Extension, Hifiman RE800S earphone sounds fantastic with vivid details, clear soundstage and effortless dynamics. After Hifiman RE800S get burned in (it sounds little bit bright now), then I will compare it with Sundara. Thomas |
HiFiman Sundara with Galaxy Note 4 using Amazon Prime service sounds so musical that I am astonished. Of course, my main system sounds more analytical with clear and 3D soundstage and deeper bass slam. But during summertime, I am trying headphone with windows open. Fortunately, I can live happily without air conditioning at my house in Pacific Northwest. Now I had realized that audiophiles including me tend to spend too much money on audio components. Combination of Sundara and Note 4 cost me 600$. |
Some reviewers reported 7Khz peak of RE800S even after full burn in of around 300 hours. After 50 hours of burn in, it still sounds too bright to my taste. It is almost certain that I will return it to Amazon after comparison of three earphones. But it may work with some forgiving system. Thus I do not discourage other people from trying this out. This one has vivid and dynamic sound with clear soundstage which will suit some people’s taste. |
This morning I had compared between
SoundMAGIC E11C earphone,
HIFIMAN SUNDARA and
HIFIMAN RE800s driven by Chord Dave Dac/preamp. I played "Centerstage" which is a forgiving Audiophile CD. Sundara still sounds musical with neutral sound. SoundMAGIC E11C sounds also nice driven with Dave with more dynamics and neutral sound. HIFIMAN RE800s sound vivid and dynamic but with occasional bright edges. HIFIMAN RE800s may work in forgiving system but not with Dave which offer vivid and clear sound. Tomorrow I will get Periodic Audio Be earphone. After burning it overnight, I will do comparison between three earphones. |
It is taking strange turn. Hifiman RE 800S is listenable with more bass and tamed but fast treble after 70 hours of burn in. Now I find sound from Sundara a little bit closed on top although it sounds very musical. I use earphone when I work on Photoshop. It is not comfortable to wear magnifying glass on headphone. Thus I prefer earphone to headphone for my personal reason. It may be too early to judge Periodic Audio BE IEM only after 10 hours of burn in. But I prefer open and fast sound from Hifiman RE 800S to the neutral sound of Periodic Audio BE. To experience the best earphone under 1K$, I placed an order for MASSDROP X EMPIRE EARS ZEUS UNIVERSAL IEM. https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-empire-ears-zeus-universal-iems?mode=guest_open&utm_campaign=Transactional%3A%20Shipping%20Notification&utm_source=SparkPost&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Transactional%3A%20Shipping%20Notification&utm_content=1560968955870.083665385797592302809037&referer=67VW66 Thomas |
Geoff You may like Sundara. It is a really good deal at 350$ with magical sound although slightly closed on top. Now I may have to change the subject to "Best earphone under 1k$". I placed an order for MASSDROP X EMPIRE EARS ZEUS UNIVERSAL IEM based upon following review. https://headfonics.com/2016/03/the-zeus-by-empire-ears/ Tone onset has an accurate articulation – smooth and fast, and when properly driven Zeus displays excellent dynamics. The combination of its forward center midrange and high resolution creates a clear center image, while accentuating subtle effects of echo and reverberation – making them more present, while contributing to that sense of standing in a great hall. This resolving nature brings detail to the foreground, without having an analytical or bright tone. This reflects quality, as it is technically more challenging than simply ‘turning the light up’. The soundstage is about average in width, but both tall and deep. It wouldn’t suffice to say imaging is excellent, for it has a precision and 3D feel that reflects an incredible degree of technical engineering. Instrument position is incredibly precise in the different layers spreading along the width and depth of the field, and together with the exceptionally high resolution provides a clear image of the instruments in space. Zeus inherently has a clean background and is highly transparent; although the warmth in the atmosphere is highly sensitive to the source, and can vary accordingly. |